Kylie Jenner is making her biggest move into scripted acting yet — and her first major character is already marked for death.
Jenner is set to headline and executive produce Bachelorette Weekend, a working-title thriller drama that is finalizing a deal for a straight-to-series order at Hulu. Kim Kardashian is also executive producing the project, which comes from writer Lauren Oliver and Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment.
There is one important qualification to the announcement: Hulu has not formally unveiled the series itself yet. The straight-to-series deal is still being negotiated, and a Hulu representative declined to comment when contacted by TheWrap. So while the project has moved considerably beyond ordinary development, it is more accurate for now to say it is nearing or finalizing its Hulu order.
Kylie plays the bride at the center of the murder
The premise gives Jenner an unusual introduction to dramatic television.
A bachelorette getaway turns into a murder mystery when the bride, played by Jenner, is found dead in a swimming pool. Her closest girlfriends immediately become suspects, and the story reconstructs what happened in the period leading up to her death.
Jenner’s character has been described as the “North Star of the series,” meaning the mystery will continue to revolve around her even after the murder occurs.
Exactly how that will work has not been revealed. The structure could potentially allow Jenner to remain heavily involved through the events preceding the killing, but neither Hulu nor the producers have confirmed whether the series will use flashbacks, multiple timelines or another narrative device.
That makes the casting more interesting than a standard celebrity cameo. Rather than simply appearing as herself, Jenner is being positioned at the center of the mystery.
Kim Kardashian helped bring Kylie to the project
The behind-the-scenes path to Bachelorette Weekend also explains why the sisters are working together on the series.
According to Deadline’s reporting, the spec script was originally sent to Kardashian as a potential producing project. She believed the material could work as a starring vehicle for Jenner and passed it along to her sister, with both subsequently joining as executive producers.
The project then moved through Kardashian’s first-look arrangement with 20th Television and was pitched to Hulu, which bought it preemptively before negotiations moved toward a straight-to-series order. Kapital Entertainment and 20th Television are serving as co-studios.
That also places Jenner’s move into scripted television alongside Kardashian’s growing acting and producing slate. Kardashian already stars in Hulu’s legal drama All’s Fair, while both sisters remain stars and executive producers on The Kardashians. Hulu’s official page confirms Kylie and Kim among the reality series’ executive producers.
Bachelorette Weekend comes from an unpublished novel
Another unusual detail is that audiences cannot simply pick up the book and spoil the mystery beforehand.
Lauren Oliver created and is writing the television adaptation from an unpublished novel by Flora Collins. The property was developed through Oliver’s StoryGiants before Aaron and Jaiden Kaplan developed the TV version internally at Kapital Entertainment.
Oliver already has substantial experience moving between publishing and screen storytelling. Her work includes Before I Fall, the Delirium novels and Panic, which she adapted for television.
Jenner, meanwhile, has previously appeared onscreen as versions of herself and recently had a cameo in Charli xcx’s A24 film The Moment. Bachelorette Weekend is being positioned as her first major scripted acting role, rather than another reality appearance or celebrity cameo.
No additional cast, episode count, production start date or premiere window has been announced.
For now, that may be the most interesting thing about the project: Hulu is potentially building an entire murder mystery around Jenner while giving her a character whose death drives the story. If the deal closes as reported, Bachelorette Weekend will be less about Kylie Jenner briefly experimenting with acting and more about whether she can anchor a scripted thriller in her first substantial dramatic role.
